What is phishing primarily aimed at achieving?

Phishing is primarily aimed at obtaining sensitive information by impersonation. This cyber attack technique typically involves fraudulent communications, often through email or messaging, where the attacker masquerades as a trustworthy entity. The goal is to trick individuals into providing personal information, such as usernames, passwords, credit card details, or other sensitive data. By successfully impersonating a legitimate source, attackers can exploit the victims' trust and acquire information that can lead to identity theft, financial losses, or unauthorized access to secure systems.

The other options, while they may describe consequences of certain cyber threats or attacks, do not specifically capture the essence of phishing. For instance, while malware infections can indeed be a component of some phishing schemes, the core objective of phishing is to deceive individuals into sharing sensitive data rather than solely infecting their systems. Similarly, transferring funds without authorization and creating unauthorized data backups are actions that may arise from different forms of cyber crime but are not the primary focus of phishing itself.